The Lokayukta’s exhaustive report has revealed how big businesses and senior politicians colluded to clean out Bellary’s rich iron ore mines. But Bellary is also a governance failure and that should be viewed more seriously than all illegalities and environmental degradation, M Suchitra and Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava report

450,000 people in and around Jharia town of Jharkhand are threatened by the fire raging underground, but there is no political will to implement the master plan for their rehabilitation and fire control

While mining continues to exploit mineral-rich areas and impoverish their people, a government panel ignores these costs to focus on fast-tracking private investment in the sector

Private mining interests are making a beeline to mineral-rich states like Orissa and Jharkhand. But how is this thrust on mining to be reconciled with tribal livelihood?